NTSB to investigate cruise ship stranded in Gulf

HOUSTON—The National Transportation Safety Board says it has opened an investigation into an engine room fire that crippled a cruise ship carrying more than 4,000 people in the Gulf of Mexico.

The NTSB said in a statement Tuesday that the agency and the U.S. Coast Guard are sending investigators to Mobile, Ala., where Carnival Cruise Lines' Carnival Triumph is expected to arrive Thursday. The NTSB says the Bahamas Maritime Agency will lead the investigation since the ship carries a Bahamian flag.

Investigations are routine in such cases.

The Triumph left Galveston, Texas, for a scheduled four-day cruise last Thursday. A Sunday engine fire knocked out the ship's primary power source, leaving it adrift.